Gnome
|environment=Any |challenge=By class level |source=Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook |page=23 }} Gnomes are a misfit race, originally alien to Golarion and far from ideally suited to life in the world. Forced from their original home, the realm of the fey known to the people of Golarion as the First World, the gnome race is still haunted by the spiritual damage caused by their exodus. Many still long for a return to that golden age. Appearance A Gnome is a short humanoid, and the most bizarre and alien of the civilized races of Golarion. They tend to be around three and a half feet tall and unnervingly slender. Gnomes do not age as other mortals do, beginning to fade and ‘’bleach’’ only when they lose passion and fail to experience new things. They have long spindly fingers and large heads, which have a subtly different shape than those of other humanoids. Compared to their bodies they have surprising toughness, as their bones are of a harder but lighter cast than those of humans. Their coloration, like their aging, is altered by experience. Their skin, hair, and eyes can run the gamut of colors that appear in nature, betraying their fey nature like no other characteristic. Many, though not all, have skin tones that match those of other humanoids who live in the region, often with tints of olive or gold. Their hair is often vibrantly colored; expressing their recent history and experiences in reds, greens and more, as often, if not more so than browns and blonds. They have very long expressive eyebrows above large eyes. Their child-like eyes can often cause other humanoids to be more trusting and protective of gnomes, though many find these traits along with the too-wide mouths and smiles of gnomish race to be alien and frightening. Sexual dimorphism is minimal in gnomes. Males tend to be slightly larger and not as slender. Females tend to be slightly smaller and more feminine, possessing longer eyelashes, slimmer waists, and many of the other differences also exhibited by humans. History The history of the gnome race does not begin on the world of Golarion but in the First World, the realm of the fey. The gnomes were once a race of ancient, immortal and mischievous fey themselves. They were happy with life in the First World as it was a world of endless wonder were they had all eternity to indulge their endless curiosity and whimsy. It was not to last, however, and they were forced to leave the First World to flee their homes and migrate to Golarion. The gnomes claim that this migration was just a part of the endless curiosity and that it was their thirst for new experience that drove them to the Material Plane. Other sources claim that the reason for their exodus was much darker, that a cataclysm similar to the fall of the Starstone that heralded the Age of Darkness forced them to flee the First World. On Golarion The time after they first arrived in Golarion was a perilous time for the gnome race. This was when they first suffered from the Bleaching which claimed many of their numbers. They also lost their ability to manipulate shadow, and with their main form of defense gone, many gnomes fell victim to predators. In this period gnomes were nearly rendered extinct. They eventually began to adapt to life on Golarion, forming enclaves that helped to protect them from the hostile world. Since then gnomes have become an accepted part of life on Golarion. Gnome Inhabitants Main article: Category:Gnomes References Category:Races Category:Humanoids Category:Gnome subtype creatures